NBC got a great deal: it paid nothing for the Cup races — the America’s Cup Event Authority bought time on NBC and NBCSN and sold advertising to its sponsors — and used the race production that was hosted by the Cup. But NBC also got lucky, televising a remarkable comeback.
On Wednesday, Oracle Team USA, which once trailed Emirates Team New Zealand, 8-1, won its eighth race in a row to finish with a 9-8 victory.
“It clearly exceeded our expectations,” said Greg Hughes, a spokesman for NBC Sports Group. “It’s been compelling, and it was extended through the last possible race.” He added, “It was a good deal for them and a good deal for us.”
The result may entice NBC to carry the next America’s Cup, which will take place wherever Larry Ellison, the billionaire behind Oracle, decides to stage it.
“We’ll certainly talk to them about it,” Hughes said. “It’s a quality event.”
He would not comment on whether the comeback story would make the America’s Cup valuable enough for a network like NBC to pay a rights fee.
Geoff Mason, a member of the America’s Cup advisory board, is a veteran observer of the race. He has been a producer, an executive producer or a director of six Cups. But rather than being in San Francisco, he was watching at home in Florida.
“The images were maybe the most exciting images I’ve seen in sports,” he said. “Compared to what we put on the air from Fremantle in 1987, it’s like comparing this year’s Super Bowl to the regional college football game I produced in 1968.”
NBC and its cable network, NBCSN, showed 13 days of racing starting on Sept. 7. NBC averaged 1.05 million viewers on the first two days; through the next 10, including Tuesday, NBCSN averaged about 165,000 viewers — about twice what it usually attracts from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Eastern.
Put into context, the America’s Cup races attracted more viewers for NBC Sports Group than for Major League Soccer games (111,000) but fewer than it received for its live Tour de France coverage (287,000) or its Formula One races (203,000 to date).
More viewers tuned in to the Cup on weekends (the peak of 244,000 was reached Sept. 14).
The most viewed weekday was Tuesday, when an average of 182,000 watched Oracle win two races to tie the races at 8-8.
The America’s Cup was once a much stronger draw. The event became a late-night sensation in 1987 from Fremantle, Australia. In the final race, when Stars and Stripes defeated Kookaburra III, nearly 1.9 million television households watched on ESPN.
Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/26/sports/nbc-gets-far-more-than-it-expected-from-cup.html?partner=rss&emc=rss